Christmas Eve with the Carmody's

Since our family celebrated early, this is the first time that I have not spent Christmas Eve with my family. It felt a little odd at first but once we got rolling it was great. Tom and Pam Carmody are just like family. They are our closest and dearest friends in Tehachapi. When they invited us to join them for simple evening, we were delighted. Pam served up awesome seafood dishes and we stuffed ourselves! Not to mention the pomegranate martini's. Whew! So after stuffing ourselves and indulging in a bit of cheer, we were off to the Christmas Eve service at church, then back to the Carmody's for pie...rhubarb pie....yummmm! Thanks Tom, Pam and Shane for a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Christmas Comes Early at the Coleman Ranch

This year we did our Christmas celebration early. With the family growing and the kids needing to go to more places than ever before, we decided that Jesus wouldn't mind if we celebrated his birthday early. So the family all came to the our home over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd.
The adults also decided to exchange hand made gifts rather than contributing to the commercialism of Christmas. It was an awesome weekend with lots of laughing, lots of food, and some crazy loud singing of Christmas caroles. Nana said we sounded terrible but because we were having so much fun she encouraged us to keep singing. My brother Steve and I made an attempt at old fashioned popcorn balls and candied apples, but they didn't come out very well so we decided that we wouldn't keep that new tradition. We had a great prime rib dinner with all the fixin's Saturday night and then Sunday morning we opened gifts and Joni made us maple corn fritters. And since Scott's birthday is the 23rd, we celebrated his day, too. Family and togetherness, that is what it was all about for us this year. Here are a few pictures of the weekend.

We started slow by making sure the dogs all had red and green scarves. This first picture is of our granddogs, Lily and Maxine and our dogs, Hermie and Bailey. The dogs got a long great and ran around in the yards until they were pooped.

Next we have a picture of Dan dressed for cold weather to go fishing. He caught a nice trout at the lake with Scott.
The family all gathered together for our annual photo. These next two pictures show the gang gathered by the tree with dogs eyes all a glow.

Next is Steve trying to get Hermie to be his friend. He brought treats for all the dogs. Hermie growled at Steve most of the weekend but he wouldn't give up.

Joni and Kristen strung popcorn and cranberries to add to our tree.

And our newest tradition, reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by the fire. Joni and Dominic took turns reading and showing the pictures. I couldn't believe how quiet the house was while they read the story. And finally, Dominic poses while he opens his presents. He actually opened them slowly this year and checked each present out before moving on to the next one.

Annual CHFC Christmas Party

Another year, another Compton Hunting and Fishing Club Christmas Party. Every year since I was a wee child, we have been going to the CHFC annual kids Christmas Party. My grandparents were members first, back in the 50's and then my folks joined. The CHFC has brought many great memories both at the Christmas party and many fun camping trips as well as lots of other functions. When I was in junior and high school, I used to get to help Santa by dressing as one of his elves. When my girls were young, they used to go to the party every year and now that tradition is staying alive with Dominic. We have 5 generations attending the party now. This year I got to experience the "night before the party" festivities. Each year the adults get together the night before to decorate the club, stuff the stockings and prepare for the kids party. I joined my folks and my brother to experience the "elf" activities. We had a blast! I do have one question.....how many CHFC men does it take to hang lights along the shelves? At least 7 or 8. My brother, Steve, and I laughed while we watched the guys untangle, test, hang and complain to each other. Pretty funny stuff considering they do this every year. The tree was magnificent, the tables all set in green and red, the snowflakes glittering and then we snacked. Yes, the adult elves get fed the night before and partake in a bit of Christmas cheer. I'm so glad I went down early to help the night before. I got some quality bonding time with my Mom, Dad, Brother, Aunt, Uncle and other members that I have come to know over the years. Here are some pictures of the festivities.

Here's Mom, Steve and Dad after we finished
decorating and eating. Boy my folks and bro
work hard at all the club functions:















Here's Dominic getting his gift from
Santa. It was a SpongeBob Christmas
movie. Santa really knew what Dominic
wanted this year:

Aunt Donna, aka Missus Spintales, tells stories
while the kids wait for Santa. Not sure who
the little girl is. She joined our picture because
she wanted to spend more time with Santa:
















3 of the 5 generations represented here. My
Grandma Helen who is Great-Great Grandma
to Dominic:

Charlotte may be here sooner than planned!

Seem's that baby Coleman may want to come in to the world sooner than originally scheduled. Sarah's original due date is Jan. 23rd, 2008. A few weeks back she experienced some labor so the doctor re-estimated her due date to be the beginning of January. Well, Monday night, Jeff called and they were at the hospital. Sarah was having labor pains again and she has started dialating. They kept her in the hospital until Wednesday to stop the labor. Jeff said some of the medicine that she has to have makes her pretty sick, but Sarah "is a trooper" and hanging in there. The doctor wants Charlotte to go to at least 35 weeks for lung development, etc. So, Sarah is on bed rest until she delivers. Jeff and Sarah are both dealing with all of this pretty darn well. They are confident with the doctors and women's center where Sarah will be delivering. Jeff said that it looks like Charlotte, aka Charlie, will be here long before 2008. I'll keep you updated with any news, in the meantime, here are some great pics of Charlie in the womb, trying to get out! They have determined one thing for certain, she has Jeff''s feet

Dreaming of a White Christmas......

Okay, so it's not Christmas yet, but I'll take the snow anytime. I peeked outside last evening while I was decorating our Christmas tree and the snow had just started. So of course I ran out to the front porch to smoke a cigarette and watch the beautiful snowflakes amongst the Christmas lights. Have I told you how much we love the snow! Last year we had snow every weekend in December. It's a bit later this year, but we're hoping we get lots more, especially when the family all comes up the weekend before Christmas. I snapped a couple shots this morning because there is nothing like fresh, unstepped in snow. Here is what it looks like in Tehachapi this beautiful December morning.


This was a 7:00 am when I went out to feed
the horses. It was so beautiful!

I love it when the trees are coated whith snow.

Hermie was kickin' up her heals and running
around the back yard...should of had my video
camera.

Okay, so no more untouched snow. Bailey and
Hermie left their mark and some yellow snow.














The barn takes on a whole new look with a rooftop
full of snow.

Woody the Woodpecker is here!

Wow, I just realized I haven't posted anything since mid November. I've been pretty busy since I have taken on a side job writing training. Well, today I was walking by the back door and I noticed a beautiful woodpecker in our tree on our deck. I have noticed all the holes in the tree and the sap all over the deck, but I have yet to see the culprit. I have nicknamed him Woody....seemed appropriate. Much to my surprise, he didn't even budge when I walked out the door with my camera. His head looked flouresent red in the sunlight. Isn't he beautiful?

Charlotte will be here before you know it!

In a previous blog I introduced Baby Coleman. Well, Jeff and Sarah decided to find out the sex of the baby afterall. It's a girl and they are naming her Charlotte, Charlie for her nickname. She is due to arrive around January 23rd, 2008 which is just around the corner. Mommy and Daddy have been busy getting her room ready. Here are a few pictures of their adventures preparing for parenthood.

Jeff wrote a book about how he and Sarah met for Charlotte and gave it to Sarah at the shower

The crib is waiting for the new arrival

Who say's pregnant ladies can't wear heels?

Finally Caught a Fish!

Kristen, Steve and Dominic came up over the weekend so Scott took the boys down to Brite Lake by our house to go fishing. Dominic and Scott have fished together several times, but poor Dominic was starting to believe that there were no fish to catch and it was pretty boring. Well, not anymore. Dominic finally hooked his first trout. He caught 2 on Saturday. Steve also caught 2 and we fried them up for breakfast Sunday morning. Scott said it was more fun helping the boys, so he didn't fish. He was happy to see them so excited. Here are some pictures of their prize catches.





Brite Lake will continue to be stocked over the next couple of months so if anybody wants to try their angler skills, come on up!

Halloween 2007.....

Another year, another Halloween! Each year, since we moved to Tehachapi, I go down to Long Beach to go trick or treating with Dominic. Kristen makes his costume every year and this year he decided he wanted to be a robot. After a few complaints about all his gear to put on, we were off to Belmont Shores to collect treats and visit friends. Dominic was more excited about getting to Kara'a house than going from door to door. We had a great time and wanted to share some pictures.

Ready....set....let's hit the streets!

Kristen and Steve dressed up as themselves this year.
Yes, even little robots need to talk on the cell phone while trick or treating. Dominic got a call from his friend Becky in NY
The goblins didn't bother the Dominator!
Steve teases Kristen with a Snickers...but when we got home, Steve unloaded his shirt pocket which had almost as much candy as Dominic. Halloween brings out the kid in all of us :)
The Ghoulish gang at Kara's house.

Introducing "Hermie" the hound dog.

This is our newest family member, Hermie. As you can see, she is a basset hound. She is almost 2 years old and we love her. I have babysat for her many times over the last year or so. She is learning a lot from Bailey. So far, she is pretty mellow and has figured out the routine around here.

Acne????

I have acne, yes acne. My chin area has been breaking out like crazy over the past few months and I couldn't figure out why. I did a little research on line and discovered that yes indeedy...a woman can get acne while going through menopause because of homonal imbalances and changes. Well there you have it. No period, just pimples. Who'd a thought I would get acne at 51!

Fall Vacation 2007.....

We just got back from our annual fall vacation. We headed up to Shaver Lake and visited all the surrounding lakes including Huntington Lake, Wishon and Courtright reservoirs. WOW, the lakes are all really low from our 2 year drought, very sad. We decided that the western sierra mountains are not as fun as the eastern sierras. Don't get me wrong, the area is beautiful, but the fishing sucked! After 3 days at Shaver, we packed up and moved on to Kings Canyon National Park. When I say packed up, I mean we pulled the slide out in on the RV, rolled up our rug, folded up our chairs, hooked up the Suzuki and we were out of there lickety split. We have it down now! We pulled in to the beautiful sequoia forest, set up our campsite and set off to see some of the sites including Grant's Grove of giant sequoia's and hiking up to what I thought was the top of the world to see the entire canyon and the mountain ranges in the distance. Again, beautiful. We got up early the next morning and drove down in to the lower canyon along the kings river. Again, beautiful! Our highlight of the day was seeing a young bear run across the road. We tried to get a photo, but he disappeared in to the trees quickly. We stopped a Hume Lake on our way back up the canyon, had lunch, fished a couple hours....not even a bite. So we again packed up and headed to another site for the night at Lake Kaweah. Lake Kaweah sits at the bottom on the foothills near the entry to the Sequoia National Park. So we got up early Friday morning, Scott fished and then we headed up to see the General Sherman tree and the rest of the big trees. We could see that there was a storm moving in but we figured our little 4 wheel drive Suzuki would get the job done no matter what the weather. Well.....who would have thought we would run in to snow. Not just a flurry, but a full blown snow storm. It was awesome! Those giant sequoia tree's looked better than ever in the snow and our Suzuki helped make tracks for a few folks who got themselves in to the snow without snow tires or chains! All and all, it was a good trip. Saw lots of wildlife, awesome views and did a little antique shopping in the small towns we passed through. Here are a few snapshots:















After hiking up to the panoramic point, I had to catch my breath before I could take in the beauty. This spectacular view was worth the climb, but I know now why I need to quit smoking!













The roaring falls in Kings Canyon. Don't tell the park rangers we took our dog on the trail to get there. Dogs aren't allowed on park trails but since we were the only people there that morning we figured Bailey needed some excercise, too.














Scott and I in front of the General Grant Grove in Kings Canyon.














Bailey enjoyed chasing the ducks at Shaver Lake. She pouted until we let her go swimming.














This is the view of the Sequoia National Park from our campground the day after the snow storm.














I took this while I was driving through the trees heading up the mountain in Sequoia National Park.














Bailey wasn't thrilled about playing in the snow, but Scott was an adventurer that day. Prior to this photo, he hiked down to the General Sherman tree. I wimped out...Bailey and I waited in the car and watched the snow pile up.















The snow got thicker on the way down the mountain.

Take your pick.....

Fall has definitely come to Tehachapi. Our temperatures have dropped and the nights are very cool. Check out the blue sky! I love fall, it's my favorite time of year. We harvested our pumpkins early this year. We figured if the grocery stores are already selling them for Halloween, we can get ours up off the ground, too. This is the cream of the crop. There are a few small one's left on the plants that are not quite orange yet, but I'll use those closer to the holidays to make yummy pumpkin pie. This is our best pumpkin crop ever. These are great for Jack-O-Lanterns! As usual, we have reserved the biggest one for Dominic!

Dominic spends the week in Tehachapi

Well, it's taken a few days to recuperate, but we enjoyed a every busy minute of it! Scott, Dominic and I went to the Antelope Valley Fair the second night of his stay and boy can the Dominator throw darts! He won 3 prizes popping those balloons. Sure can tell he isn't a country music fan because he didn't really enjoy watching The Charlie Daniels Band or Lonestar. Scott helped him enjoy the concert more by getting him a funnel cake with cinnamon sugar, chocolate syrup and chocolate chips. Hmmmm, maybe that explains the great dart throwing! We also went camping with him. The tooth fairy also made a visit as Dominic lost a tooth the last night here. I only captured a few pictures since it was a bit hard to hold the camera with the splint cast on my arm. Dominic was a big help since I was nursing my fractured elbow during his stay. Thanks Dominic for a wonderful visit, can't wait until you come up again!


The boys tried fishing, but only caught weeds.

Dominic anticipates going on the slip and slide.
Notice the chocolate pudding all over his face....
The slip and slide was his way of washing it off.

Scott got in on the action to help Dominic learn to
actually slide rather than jump onto the slip and slide.

And of course, what would a visit be without goofy
photos. Domninic sure can do some crazy scary things
with his beautiful blue eyes, eh?